Gardening

September 03, 2014

Henry helped me this evening. We pulled in a bunch of acorn squash, butternut squash, Golden Hubbard, cucumbers, and Patrick pulled off two nice size pumpkins. We have a lot of pumpkins! I am so relieved because I thought we had lost everything to the Downey Mildew. We were wanting to have a fall party and let the kids pick pumpkins. I was so worried with the disease that everything would be dessimated but I think we made it through, with most of the pumpkins. It looks like despite my lack of weeding time, mildew problems and obvious neglect, our garden didn't do half bad. The kids and I will make some more pickles tomorrow. I have plenty more tomatoes to bring in and potatoes need to dug up. Maybe tomorrow.

August 26, 2014

So how are you? I can not believe summer is coming to a close. I just can’t. I am not ready for school to begin. Not just mentally, but literally. Our books are just now coming in. Lesson plans? What are those? I am scrambling and trying to pull it all together this week. I hate being rushed. My goal is to start my homeschoolies on September 2nd. Joe has just completed his first week of his junior year at his high school. Julia starts September 2nd and Mary Jane and Patrick started a Socratic group on Monday. (I’m so excited about this) They will meet two days a week with a couple of other middle schoolers and hit history, religion, science, literature and writing, and rhetoric. They’ll have work during the week and we’ll handle math at home. I’m hoping to get a homeschool post up, but you know me, so, don’t hold your breath.

The garden is so bountiful. I ordered all of our seeds from St Clare Heirloom Seeds and I am so impressed. Everything came up and has produced plentiful. It has far exceeded my expectations. I can not recommend these seeds enough. St. Clare Seeds is a small family run business. I love supporting a company like this. I don't receive any compensation for recommending them I am just really pleased with their product and want to pass on a good thing!

On a kind of a sad note my huge pumpkin, squash, melon patch is succumbing to downy mildew. I’m so frustrated and bummed. I’ve been using neem oil on it but I think it is to far gone. Lesson learned. I am going to spray right from the get go next year instead of waiting until I see the first signs of a problem. What did they do in the old timey days? Surely they had downy mildew. How’d they handle it, I wonder?

We have made lots of pickles. I can’t make them fast enough. The kids love them. I made ketchup. It was a ton of work. It tastes awesome but I’m not sure it was worth it. I had over 20 lbs of tomatoes, the process took about nine hours and all I ended up with was 2 and 1/2 pints. Eh. I think I’ll splurge on organic ketchup in the bottle. I need to put up some tomato sauce, and whole tomatoes. I also need to get some sauerkraut made. My dad brought up all of his old crocks with him when he moved. I am going to try it the old fashioned way. Wish me luck! We’ve made french fries with our potatoes.(so good) We’ve had plenty of fresh broccoli and green beans. Unfortunately not enough to put up. Our corn should be ready in a week or two. I have learned so much this year and am already thinking about next year’s garden.

Anyway, I think that is all for now. Thank you for all of your kind words regarding Thomas. Terry wrote a comment on that post if you want to go back and read it. We are, all of us, so appreciative of how you all have been there for us wether it be a prayer or a kind word. It all means so much.

To close, I’m praying for this crazy world of ours. At times I listen to all of this tragedy going on around us and I just feel so hopeless. I must remember that I can do something by praying and remembering that whatever happens, in the end, JESUS WINS!! Haley from Carrots for Michaelmas has a great post relating to all of this.

June 15, 2014

I meant to get on here this past week to say that "We survived May and all of the busyness that comes with it", but I really should include the first week of June in that because the beginning of the month is Ballet Recital and we were all consumed with that for two weeks. Everything not related to ballet has been sorely neglected, including the house. We are still picking up the pieces. But, it was all worth it. The recital was beautiful. The show this year was Beauty and the Beast. I am going to get pictures up here this week sometime. I hope.

The garden is coming right along. We do a lot of the work out there in the evening. If I'm lucky enough to get up super early before the kids I'll head out. That is my favorite time in the garden. It is cool and quiet, except for the birds. We harvested enough peas for a meal. Not enough for a complete side dish, but enough to put in a recipe.

I think everyone who is starting a garden, especially those with children, needs to plant radishes. They take only a few days to sprout and they are ready to harvest in about 21 days. The kids have had a blast picking them. We slice them up and put them in a salad. I think that is all you can do with them really. If anyone knows of some other way to eat radishes let me know. We have a lot of radishes.

We have been haying the back fields and it just feels so good to prepare for the winter this way. It is pretty neat to think that the hay the cows will be eating will be the hay from our fields. I kind of feel like an official farmer now. Ha!

Joseph and Julia just got back from a youth retreat in Steubenville. I received texts from both of them this past weekend telling me how incredible it was so I am off to hear all about it.

July 13, 2013

I had such a nice day today. After weeks and weeks of neglect, I spent almost 4 hours in the garden. The younger ones were with me for about the first hour. Catherine asked me at one point if we were almost done. I told her I wanted to get at least the sweet potatoes weeded. She shyly said "Oh, I want to go inside, but I don't want to ditch you." Hee Hee. She is so cute. It was a nice peaceful time. I didn't have my Ipod on, it was just the birds chirping, tractors in the distance, the breeze through the trees. Just me and my thoughts. It was peaceful.

I was so energized (and sunburned) when I came back inside. I made a blueberry bundt cake to use up some blueberries I had leftover from picking. Oh my it was delicious. It is definitely a keeper. I added a vanilla glaze that topped it off perfectly. I just can't do bundt cakes though. They never come out of the pan intact. I'm not sure if I am not greasing and flouring the pan well enough, waiting to long to turn them out or not long enough.

Joe found a Praying Mantis egg sac. Not sure if it has hatched yet.

I'm still working on the classroom. One of these days it will be totaly unpacked and organized. Maybe tomorrow because I have a feeling I am going to be sore and won't be able to do much else.

March 27, 2008

March 07, 2008

Well, the garden beds are growing nicely. The tomatoes are starting to flower. In the middle garden bed I have no idea what is growing in there. There is absolutely no order because of the dogs, and there ahem, rearranging of that particular bed. I have one more bed to plant. I am thinking zucchini and watermelon. I haven't planted yet because of the dogs. I just know that once the seeds are in the ground they are going to dig. They are waiting, I am sure of it!

We wanted to put a fence up, but for lack of time I don't think that is going to happen. Spring soccer is starting up and the horse shows. So I am just praying that the dogs don't find digging in the garden that exciting anymore.

I can almost taste the tomatoes!

Our first "harvest" from the garden, turnip greens. These will go in a salad tonight.

February 14, 2008

Here is the chickens new home. It is a portable chicken coop. The idea is to move it to a new area of pasture each day. The chickens spread out the manure, eat the bugs, and leave, ahem, fertilizer on the ground. In the end you have, healthier chickens, healthier eggs, and a healthier pasture. The boxes attached to the right of the coop are the nesting boxes. All you have to do is lift the lid and check for eggs. It is pretty cool.

And now for the advice. If you ever decide to move to a farm and you think "Now that I have all this land I am going to get a dog." And then if you think " Wow, those Labrador Retriever puppies are so cute and I heard they are very smart dogs, lets get one of those." DON'T! Because it will inevitably eat your flock of chickens. They are bird dogs you now. And then when you have beautiful garden beds (like mine below) and the sprouts are coming up and you can just picture all of the beautiful vegetables you are going to put on the table. The cute, smart, Lab will dig up your garden beds. Not once, but twice. They like to dig you know.

January 28, 2008

Well, the garden beds are put together. We did get a total of three beds, however, I think I have room for one more. We are going to set this garden up in our side yard. We do get a good amount of sun, and it is close to the house. We now have to set them in the ground, line the bottoms with chicken wire, and find some organic soil to fill them with. Oh, and then get the seeds in the ground!

January 25, 2008

I am starting to plot out our garden. I almost think we are a little to late for a spring garden, but we are going to get it up and running anyway. We are doing something new this year. We are going to plant our garden in raised beds. We ordered these and they are sitting in boxes in our yard waiting to be put together. The goal is to get to that this weekend. We have not had much success with gardens on this property. In our old house we had awesome vegetable gardens that yielded a bountiful crop. The soil must be lacking something here.

I would like to plant:

tomatoes

beets

turnips

lettuce

squash

beans

peas

swiss chard

spinach

cabbage

a nice herb patch

That is what I have so far. Am I missing something? Next up chickens. Wait until you see what contraption we bought for those!! It also needs to be put together!

About Me

Hi, my name is Kirsten. I am married to my best friend and we have nine awesome children including our little saint in heaven, Thomas Joseph. We are Catholic, loving, living, and learning about our faith every day. We just moved to a fixer upper farm here in beautiful Kentucky. We also homeschool some of our children. I really enjoy COFFEE, reading, gardening, running, and knitting. I try to enjoy, laundry and cleaning bathrooms and sweeping floors. But what I really love is to be home, with my husband and children, living this life. This blog is where I write about the good stuff (mostly). Thanks for stopping by!

how nice

St. Josemaria Escriva

St Francis De Sales

Prayer to St. Joseph

PRAYER TO ST. JOSEPH THE WORKMAN
Composed by Pope St. Pius X
O glorious St. Joseph, model of all those who are devoted to labor, obtain for me the grace to work conscientiously, putting the call of duty above my natural inclinations, to work with gratitude and joy, in a spirit of penance for the remission of my sins, considering it an honor to employ and develop by means of labor the gifts received from God, to work with order, peace, moderation and patience, without ever shrinking from weariness and difficulties, to work above all with purity of intention and detachment from self, having always death before my eyes and the account that I must render of time lost, of talents wasted, of good omitted, of vain complacency in success, so fatal to the work of God. All for Jesus, all through Mary, all after thine example, O Patriarch, St. Joseph. Such shall be my watchword in life and in death. Amen.